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EBENE. carri, or BOSTON, MassaoHUsE'rTs.

WINDOWfBLIND,

.Snscats of Letters Patent N- aQe?, elated May 1, 184.7., j

yTo all whom 2f may @www f Be it known that I, EBENEZER GATE, of Boston,in the county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented a newand useful Improvement in Iron Elevating Folding Vindow Shutters orVBlinds now in General Use for Store-Fronts, ttc.; and` I do herebydeclare that the nature of the same is fully described and representedin the following specification and accompanying drawings, letters,figures, and references thereof.

Of the said drawings Figure l denotes an elevation of my improvedelevating, folding shutter or blind. Fig. 2, is a vertical, central andtransverse section, and Fig. 3 is a horizontal section thereof. Fig. 4yis a vertical and transverse section taken through one of the lockingbars to be hereinafter described. y

There arene-w in common use in various cities, both in this country andin Europe, elevating, folding window shutters, or blinds,` such as aredescribed or mentioned in the Letters Patent granted inthe UnitedStates, on the eleventh day ofApril, A. D. 1842, to Arthur L. Johnson ofBaltimore Maryland. They consist of a series of rnetallic or woodenslats, united together at their edges by hinges, land made at their endsto rest and travel up and down, in parallel grooves, or guides appliedto the window frame or other convenient part of a building. They areraised and depressedby means of a windlassbarrel, over which they arewound and unwound. My invention is an improvement thereon, orcombination therewith of a cert-ain peculiar mechanism, the purpose ofwhich I shall hereinafter describe. Y

In the aforementioned drawings A de notes a window blind, composed of aseries of metallic or wooden slats a, a, &c., arranged, lapped over oneanother, and united together by hinges b, b, &c., as seen therein. Theblind so made has its side, or vertical edges placed in vertical guidepassages c, 0, made or formed in the window frame. It is connected to ahoriontal shaftor barrel B which is disposed over the blind, andrevolves in suitable bearings properly affixed to, or made in the windowframe. A balancing weight C is suspended to a pulley D applied to theshaft or barrel, the object of the said weight being to balance thewindow blind. The elevation or depression o-f the vmay require.

119011 .one 6nd 0f a .Short horizontal; Shaft F, e beveled gearG Q11 the'ether end, another. beveled gear H iXed upon a vertical shaft I bind'iserected by man, @fa-@m1, E Hxd 1 andv engaging with the gear G, abeveled f gear K, on the top of a vertical shaft Land another beveledgear L, fixed upon the shaft of the wndlass barrel, and engaging v`withthe gear K, the Whole being arranged, and made t0 Operate together Seenin the IlgS- .other proper mode ,Of effecting a rotation 0f the Windlassbarrel may be adopted,

. 'Ihe window shutter or blind so constructed and operated, I consideras makingno part of my invention, which is as follows; Y i

To the rear-side of the blind, and near'each vertical edge thereof, andVwithin a vertical chamber d, formed in rear thereof, and in the windowframe, I apply one 0f two vertical bars e, e, vmade to-extend from topto botten of the blinder therabout', as seen in Fig. 4. Each of. saidbars may be pressed forward toward, and against the blind,"by ,one ormore Sprllgsr f, f, 01' other Suit-able contrivances properly applied toit, and aeting againsttheback of chamber d. It (the bar) may have ifdesirable any suitable number of small pins, or studs g, g, inserted in,and made to project from its front face and to enter holes Ll, h,v(corresponding in size, and in their distances apart to them) madethrough the slats or` Window blind; These studs should be of suchlength, that when the vertical boltbar is forced forward so as to restagainst the blind, and pressA it through the blind, and'also so that onthe bolt bar being vmoved back or retracted,

shortdistance, they lwill pass entirely out of g the holes of the blind,and leave it to be freely raised up or lowered down as occasion Thehorizontal width of the chamber should correspond with that of the boltbar, as seen in Fig. 3, that is to say,

t-he bar should be made to fit it so closely as not to have anyinjurious lateral movement, and still be able to move freely backandforth, or toward and from the blind.

I make t-he distance or space between the front plate m, and gle frontedge of the side plate y. of the cham. er d, much greater than hasheretofore been customary, that is to say I-make the said space of awidth about three times the thickness of that part of the blind whichmoves init, and I do thisin'- order to prevent any rustor oxidation, or

dust, which frequently lodges betweenV the slats, and the sides of thesaidspa'ce or' groove in which they move-from operating.

so as to cause any binding or friction ofthe blind when raised orlowered.v 4In fact the4 spaces or grooves c', c, within which the endsof the blind move, should be made of suchV width, that theblind, whenresting centrally in `them may remain freely, outof Contact lwith thesides thereof. VThen the bars e, e',

are allowed to be sprung forward, and press against the blind,` Atheyforce itl closely against the front plates m m and thus make to allintents and purposes a close, or suiiiciently close joint, to preventthe admission of rain, or anyeXtraneous matter, into the grooves c, c,or chambers in rear of them.`

` jurious friction in its guide grooves.

In winter it sometimes occurs, that water will be blown orotherwise getbetween the blind and the front plate x, and' there be frozen, so as torender it difcultto operate the blind.` Besides under such circum-Vstances, as well as where the blind bears hard in its grooves,vfromother causes, the hinges are liable 'tobe broken, or injured. It there-,fore becomes a very importantmatter, that the blinds should be movedaway from contact, with the front plates m, fr, in order t0 travelfreely up and down without obstruction. It will thus be seen that themain object of the bars e, is to press the blind, (when down) y forwardand close against the front plates for the -purposes above mentioned. YY

The pressure bar e, may be drawn back by a knob z', or other contrivanceof like nature applied to it, as seen in Fig. 4, and extending throughthe back part of the chamber cl and when so drawn back, the locking barmay be kept retracted by a vsliding bolt or fthe same.

plate 7c afliXed to the backvr of the chamber as seen in Fig. 4, andInadeto slide into and outf'from a, suitable notch Z, made in the shankof theknob z. I do not, however deem this mode of fastening the lockingbar back,` as constituting any part of my invenation,y as I intend toadoptany other convenient and proper 'method'of accomplishing The barmay be forced forward, `and retracted by a'screw/or screws. y From thev'above it will'readily be seen, by any person of ordinary skill as amechanician, `how completely the bars, when thrownforward againsttheblind (provided they areprovided with pins g g) not only preventitfrom being raisedeither upward or being drawn out of place by force,applied on the outer side ofit,or that side of it which faces thestreet, but press it close up against the front plates w m and thusexclude rain, etc.

. My invention lwhen applied tol a blind,

such as above described enables meto construct it, without any o-f theordinary bending of the ends Vofthe slats, such as is claimed by theaforesaid Johnson, in order to keep them from being drawn out'of place.By having plain slats without bent ends, I am enabled to operate the`blind with muchless friction, and to much ,better advantage, than -lcan be effected by `the invention of thesaid Johnson. BesidesInot onlykeep the blinds or slats `from being drawn out vof place laterally andhorizontally when closed down,

but I obtain further' a very important advantage, viz.,rthat of beingable to prevent any person fro-m 'raising the blind by any force appliedto it in the street.

I therefore claim as my invention-i The pressure bars e, e, incombination with the folding blind and its frame, as `constructed withwide grooves and made to operate in connection therewith substantiallyas described. H i

In testimony whereof I have hereto set my signature thistwenty iirst`day o-f J anuary A. I). 1847.

EBENR. GATE.l

Vitnesses: z

R. H. EDDY,

S. W. VVALDRON, J r.

